


A Bitter Bite

by Kartoffelwald



Series: These are dark days we're living in [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Zombies, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, POV Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Zombie Apocalypse, lots of swearing, platonic Hange/Levi, zombie apocalypse AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-20
Updated: 2014-05-20
Packaged: 2018-01-25 17:59:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1657370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kartoffelwald/pseuds/Kartoffelwald
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Levi didn't believe it first when Hanji calls and says the apocalypse --the fucking Zombie apocalypse-- has started. Then an infected man tried to chew his head off. So he and Hanji start packing for a very long road trip going nowhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Bitter Bite

**Author's Note:**

> Oh gosh, I didn't think I'd be writing a fic for this fandom, but I really, really couldn't help it And it has zombies! Idek.  
> This hasn't been edited yet. I will get to that after writing the whole series (hopefully.)  
> I'm still getting the hang of the characters, so they're probably a bit OOC (but hey, this is an AU.)

When first rumors of a virus outbreak reached the population, majority waved it off as another hoax—just another scare that won’t mean a thing in a few more days. It was generally ignored, and life went on for the people. That the world lost contact with a small nation, located miles away southeast of Japan, was held in secret by the authority figures, but there were people with families overseas whom they couldn’t reach anymore. Soon, the truth came out. Three days later, the world was driven into chaos. Government fell. The dead wouldn’t stay dead. People lost contact with the outside. A state of anarchy was in play. It was a kill or be killed situation everywhere.  


Levi had always prided himself in being a responsible individual. He had never crammed a school work in his life. He stayed away from parties in favor of studying. When his parents disowned him after high school graduation for not denouncing his sexual orientation (a reaction he had expected) he’d already saved a few bucks to last him at least half a year of rent. Another one year of juggling four jobs, not including the two tutoring work a friend had helped him get; and he was set for college, where he had tripled his efforts in trying to get a degree in literature. With only a few months left of university, he was sure of receiving honors and plenty a job offers. That was until the official announcement about a deadly virus that was able to transfer from any specie was announced.

Levi had also thought himself logical. When he first caught wind of the rumor he had scoffed and thought the world stupid. It was by pure luck really, that he managed to stack up on supplies when shit really hit the fan. Now, he’d never been a _lucky_ individual. He’d never considered himself lucky solely because he had worked for everything he had—they never dropped from the sky or handed to him on a silver platter by anyone. And don’t even mention his height. Both his parents and close relatives had all been over six feet tall. He was sure as hell that he’s not adopted or a product of an affair. That was just _unlucky_ , in fact, that he got the short genes.

At first, when his boss had called to tell him he had to take over a graveyard shift, he’d been pissed. He had class at eight in the morning and an exam in two days he had wanted to study early for. But he also couldn’t say no, plus, he really welcomed the extra money. Besides, the graveyard shift that started at midnight until six in the morning meant there were few, if none at all, customers. He could just bring his notes over and study while manning the register. He could pull through the next with caffeine. (Yup, coffee, his best friend since he first pulled an all-nighter in high school—not that he had to, he just wanted to.)

Begrudgingly, at exactly twelve in the morning, he arrives and takes over Petra Ral’s shift.

The first few hours were unexciting.  Levi went through more than half of his notes, his hands rarely leaving the large cup of coffee made especially for him by his good friend, Hanji. (The brunette had worked the late shift at another twenty-four hour service coffee shop.) Then at around quarter before two am, two younger male entered the mart: a two-toned hair man and his taller black haired companion. Levi resisted the urge to glare at the two smiling teens when he realized they weren’t drunk. They grabbed several bags of potato chips, a microwavable popcorn pack, and six cans of soda.  In between playful banters and weak shoves (and not to mention a stolen kiss by the shorter male that the two had thought Levi hadn’t noticed), the young men managed to grab their stuff in around twenty minutes. In less than three minutes, Levi was done dealing with them. He’d obviously been eager to get rid of both boys. He didn’t even bother faking politeness that he had appeared more or less rude, but whatever... He doubts the two would even remember or care. Still, the taller male left with a small thank you gracing his lips followed by a smile. The two-toned hair man though had raised an eyebrow and met Levi’s frown with an equally unpleasant scowl.

It wasn’t until three am, when he jolted awake from a light slumber from of his phone’s vibration, that things became relatively eventful.

 _“LEVI!! You wouldn’t believe what I just found out! Oh my god! Zombies! No, they’re something zombie-like but I don’t think they’d really be calling them zombies. But anyway, do you remember that news last night? About the small country every other place has supposedly lost contact with? Well guess what, the government was just fucking keeping a virus a secret. In truth, everyone in Lasisla might be dead or one of the Infected. I don’t know much about the virus except that it can be transferred between animals and humans and the virus is quick-acting, like really, really quick—ten to fifteen minute quick. It eats away your brain and makes you crave uhh… what was that again_ “meat, anything living, my uncle didn’t say anymore” _yeah meat and such… But anyways, here’s the thing, the shit is real, and—”_

“What? Hanji, will you shut up for a minute,” Levi said as he rubbed his face with his free hand, trying to process what the woman was talking about, “What bullshit are you spouting right now? I told you not to take any _candies_ from strangers. Have you been snuffing your co-workers’ stuff?”

_“No! No! Levi! I’m serious. So Mina, the girl I’m working with right now, his uncle is some high ranking shit in the military. She told that he told her that there were troops sent to Lasisla and they started with ten groups of eight men and only four returned. But actually only three were alive. The last one was bound in chains when they brought him back, he’d gone completely crazy, trying to bite everyone and shit. And there was this dog, you know, part of those K-9 unit—”_

“Hanji.”

_“Well, no one’s really sure with the story, but it’s sure that one of the dogs got bitten—”_

“Hanji.”

_“—then he bit his handler and the other dogs and no one wanted to order a shootout, so anyways things got out of control and now—”_

“Hanji!”

_“—apparently, it spread all over the other states, and the government hasn’t announced anything about it, yet—”_

“Fucking shut it, Hanji!” When Levi turned to the windows, he noticed a man walking with a limp. It was too dark to make out his full features, but his head was turning from side to side, as if looking for something.

 _“Uh, Levi?”_ Levi didn’t move his gaze from the man. He was either a drunk, or legitimately a man with a limp.

“How the hell are you sure it’s not some kind of hoax—again?” Suddenly the man ran down the streets, the difficulty in moving his legs evident but ignored. Curious and more than baffled, he left the register and walked out the store to see what the man was up to.  The streetlights were only enough to show him that, for some reason, the man was crouched low on the ground. The slow movements of his shoulder and head gave Levi no hint as to what he was doing.

_“Levi? Hello, you still there?”_

“Wait a fucking minute.”

The cold air of dawn was nothing compared to chill that ran down Levi’s spine when the man slowly turned to him, all his actions suddenly halting. Dog entrails hung down the open mouth. Eyes were dead and glazed. It was then that Levi noticed large chunk of flesh missing from the other man’s stomach, legs, and shoulder to the extent that white of the bones were already showing. He moved towards Levi in a trance.

“Fucking shit,” the black haired man gasped, “shit, shit, shit, shit.” He started to step back as the monstrosity got on its feet. “Shit. Shit. Shit.”

_“Levi?”_

“Fuck, I believe you. Fuck. It’s after me. Fuck!” As he sprinted back to the store, it followed him. Though still hindered by its leg’s deformity, its movements were faster than when Levi had seen him through the glass panes. “The fuck do I get rid of this?”

 _“Stay calm. Don’t let it get you.”_ Hanji’s voice was laced with worry, but Levi didn’t have a second to spare to say a thanks.

“’Stay calm’ my ass. I’m not letting that motherfucker bite out a piece of me.” As he passed through the automatic doors, he went straight for the metal baseball bat hidden under the counter.

The infected man was inside in an instant and Levi started to swing the bat.

_“Aim for the head. The head. It’s what all those video games said.”_

“Fuck if I’m not trying.”

The twenty four year old let his phone drop as he took hold of the material with both hands, tightening them before swinging backwards. There was a sickening crunch as the metal hit the man’s skull. Levi could imagine clearly how the cranium was bashed in and the rest of his facial bones breaking under the pressure.  He hit him once, twice, and a few more times while the man was down.

The metal bat hits the floor with a loud clank, and Levi loses color in his face. His hands are shaky and he could feel little splats of blood on his face. He quickly wipes them away with the sleeves of his shirt. He felt his back collide with the counter’s edge as he abruptly stepped back, trying to lose the sight of the mangled figure on the floor.

 _“LEVI!! LEVI!! HEY!!”_ Hanji’s voice from device lying on the floor, a few feet away from the corpse, was frantic. He was well aware that he should be picking the phone back up, but his knees, hands—his whole body wouldn’t stop shaking.

There’s corpse lying on the store floor.

The body has its head crushed. _CRUSHED._

He did it.

He murdered a man.

But it was self-defense.

He killed him. He needed to save himself.

The man wasn’t right in the head.

He was _infected._

There’s a fucking apocalypse.

An apocalypse.

Not a _2012_ kind of end, not a _War of the Worlds_ , not an _Armageddon_ , but a fucking _Dawn of the Dead_ apocalypse.

And Levi wasn’t planning on sitting and waiting for the major shit to come knocking at his door.

He wasn’t going to fucking die like a pansy caught with his pants down.

Oh hell no.

If he was going to die, he was going to go down fighting, and hopefully with a lot of bombs and big guns.

He breathes in and out a few times, and he finally picks the phone. He confirms with Hanji whether she was without question sure the whole virus thing was a fact. And yes, as far as she knew, it was terrifyingly true, because Mina just got picked up by men in military fatigues, complete with guns and armored trucks.  So what was the plan? It didn’t take one full minute for Levi and Hanji to get their brains thinking of plausible options.

At around four-thirty in the morning, Levi had three large boxes loaded in his beat-up car. They were all food, mostly canned, some instant noodles, and a hell lot of candies, chocolates, jams, and gums. One of the boxes were meant for bottles of drinking water, soda, juice, and the man had included a few packs of beer, and maybe a bottle of wine—or two. He also hadn’t forgotten to fill a bag with several soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrush, and he even added an anti-bacterial surface spray for good measure (it wouldn’t hurt to try and keep things clean seeing that there’s a virus strain on a rampage.)

Of course, Levi could have opted not to pay for anything. It wouldn’t matter in a few days when worse comes to worst. But there was a lingering thought that what if it doesn’t and the government cleans everything up nicely, never letting the rest of the population know? Levi could be convicted of murder and theft. The safest way to go was to use his debit card, and if life is undisrupted in the following days, he’d have Hanji pay for everything.

He contemplates leaving the store on its own, but Hanji kept calling. Well, if he were to lose his job, he might as well leave with a bang; thus, leaving everything unlocked and unmanned. There were still places to visit and things to collect, but first, he needs to get home and shower.

 

Ten hours later, the black-haired man sat at the passenger seat of an SUV as a brunette drove. The last of the remaining radio station had just signed off with a short prayer. The world was in a complete breakdown. Locations of possible refugee camps were kept from the public. If it hadn’t been for the brunette’s co-worker they wouldn’t even know such places exist, more importantly, they probably wouldn’t have been prepared, alive, and fleeing the city.

Levi and Hanji were simply lucky bastards to have had an early warning.

They were going nowhere and everywhere all at once. Behind them, the tall city buildings could barely be seen. White smoke continuously rose to the sky as the two drove farther and farther away. In the deserted road, Hanji had periodically checked her rearview mirrors, until Levi had told— _instructed_ —her to stop. There was no going back. There was nothing to do. Not many people had been lucky this time.

Levi could help but be bitter at the irony of the situation. The one time Lady Fortune graces him, it was the fucking apocalypse and people were dying, being bitten to death, left and right.

Bar the static coming from the stereo, silence reigned over the car. Boxes were piled on top of the vehicle, immediate necessities were at the back seat, and stock of weapons was in the trunk. There was a crowbar lying by Levi’s feet, easy to grab if ever something happens. Hanji had a 9mm Smith and Wesson inside her coat pockets, a gift from her late father when she turned nineteen. She knew how to use it, but it’s been years since she last fired her last bullet.

They had ransacked a hardware store on their way out. The owner lived above the shop and, though suspicious, he’d let the two raid the shelves. Hanji had used her bank savings to pay the man.

She’d warned him too, “If I were you, I’d get out of here.” The man’s response was a raised eyebrow.

“He wouldn’t believe you anyway,” Levi interjected as he grabbed the last of the bags.

They hadn’t forgotten to buy a ton of maps of different places. It was a hundred percent certainty that their GPS would be nonfunctioning soon. (True enough, it stopped working a few hours ago, along with their phones. But it was okay too, they had no one to call or warn anyway. And right now their moral compass began and ended with their survival.)

Leaving fairly early, the two missed the complete riot that had happened. Several times Hanji had wanted to turn the radio off, but each and every time her hands would get near the button, the gray eyed man would silently threaten her with a fierce glare.

There were so many questions they weren’t saying. But they were there, fueling the tension, making the air thick and heavy with agitation, anxiety, and tad bit of fear. How did everything fell apart? Why couldn’t the police, or even the military, stop those things from infecting more people? Where did it come from? How do you stop it? Can you turn someone back? Where would they go next? What are they supposed to do?

“There’s a campsite a few more miles straight ahead. There’s a gas station on the way. We need to stock up on gas,” Hanji said to which Levi acquiesced.

Some people wished for this, for an adventure, for a danger that would get one in a constant adrenaline high. Levi wasn’t one of them. He was a man of reality as much as he engrossed himself in fictitious stories. He’s always thought that something like a massive solar fare, a meteor’s trajectory hitting earth, or climate change finally taking its toll on humankind would start the world wide chaos and panic—definitely not something akin to a zombie apocalypse. It had just seemed so impossible.

 

They couldn’t find the camping grounds, so instead they chose to stay by the road. It took them an hour to set up a tent. One tent was enough, because there was no way the both of them were sleeping at the same time. Seeing Levi’s rigid posture and droopy eyes, Hanji had volunteered to do the first watch. They set up a small fire and ate canned pea soup, not even bothering to heat them.

Levi said nothing when Hanji took out two cans of beer from the trunk. She handed one to him and he took it graciously. They sat in silence, eyeing the fire as if it was bound to perform some miracle in a minute or two. He contemplated on putting a finger inside the red flames, hoping that after realizing it didn’t hurt, he could will himself to wake up. He imagined himself waking up to the blaring of his alarm, disheveled, annoyed, yet nevertheless, prepared for the day. But this was probably the fifth time he’d tried to assuage himself this was all just a nightmare. He was proven otherwise each and every time.

Engrossed in his not-so-optimistic thoughts, Levi didn’t move fast enough before he had Hanji pinching both his cheeks.

“You’re extra frown-y today,” the brunette says, a big goofy smile on her face. Levi’s scowl deepens.

“Well, you know, a fucking zombie man tried to maul me before the sun has even risen. We flee in haste and I fucking forget the three books I was going to bring alone. There were just three. Fucking THREE BOOKS AND I STILL FUCKING FORGOT THEM.” Levi couldn’t help but raise his voice. He held Hanji’s wrist firmly away from his face. The events of the last twenty hours were finally taking its toll on his lithe body. His head ached, his eyes felt so heavy, his throat was dry, and without meaning to, his body sagged forward.

He let the taller woman engulf him in a comforting hug. He didn’t cry. Maybe he had wanted to, but years and years of practice were ingrained in him. Instead, he slowly willed his arms to return the gesture.

Hanji rested her chin a top Levi’s head and hummed a tune. “We’ll look at it this way: we’re simply having a road trip right now, and you simply forgot to bring your books, but next time you wouldn’t. When we’re done, we’ll go home, alright?”

Levi let out a loud bitter laugh. “You don’t need to bullshit me, woman. We don’t need it. Lies and make-belief get us nowhere.”

“I know.”

 

They stayed on the side of the road for three more days before heading west. They pass by a deserted town of the fifth day. Windows were broken, cars were abandoned, and everything else was an absolute mess.

“Where are all the people?” Hanji asked. Levi’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. He had no answer to give, only a shake of his head.

 They weren’t low on supplies so they quietly pass it by.

“Stop the car,” Hanji suddenly said. They were almost out of the town. Levi raised an eyebrow in question. “There’s a little girl, look.” And indeed, walking slowly on the pavement was a blonde little girl turning to enter an alley.

Hanji suddenly got out the door, and ran towards the girl. “Wait, stop!”

“Fuck, Hanji, get back here,” Levi cursed. He grabs the spiked bat and tried to catch up with the brunette.

They haven’t seen another Infected ever since they left the city. Hanji had heard about them on the radio, but she’d never seen one. The little girl might as well be one of them.

He willed his legs to move faster, hating how the woman quickly gained distance. Then he heard it first before his gaze fell on the two figures. Hanji screamed as the little girl turned to face her— too eagerly, she thought. She hadn’t even touched her yet.  It was only then that they saw the missing chunk of her right cheek. Her flesh was rotting. The gaping wound revealed the insides of mouth in a morbid display that made her look like she was smiling.

“Get away!” Levi screamed.

In shock, the brunette took a step back, but lost her footing. The infected girl was letting out animalistic hungry growls. Reflexes saved her, as she put her hands around the child’s throat before it managed to bite her. Levi saw the panic in her eyes. Without hesitation, he dragged the girl’s hair back and smashed the bat against her skull. It cracked with a sickening crunch, brain matter coating Levi’s bat. He threw the corpse down and hauled Hanji to her feet. The woman was absolutely shaken.

He was about to open his mouth to scold the taller female when her eyes suddenly widened in renewed fear. She grabbed Levi’s arm and dragged him behind her. Swiftly, she drew her gun out, aimed at the large German shepherd running towards them, and fired three shots. The animal dropped within seconds.

“Well, fuck.” Levi whispered still loud enough for Hanji to hear as he noticed the movements from every angle he could see. Then there were noises coming from the alley, from inside the house, from absolutely everywhere.

People—infected people—came out from almost every establishment.

Both ran frantically towards the SUV. Their doors close with a loud slam, and Levi sped away, uncaring of the bodies he’d run over.

He let the speed slowly go down as the sight of the infected humans got out of sight.

“‘m sorry ’m sorry…” Hanji repeated over and over, large streaks of tears falling down her chin.

Levi pulled out a handkerchief from his jeans’ pockets and wordlessly handed it over to the crying girl. He tried not to flinch when the brunette blew her nose rather ungracefully. Her crying did not stop however. With a sigh, he reached for the girl’s bent head and slowly stroked her hair soothingly. 

“We’re fine. Stop crying. We’re alive. We’re fine. See?” He said. Hanji nodded.

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m not mad, okay. I understand what you did. We’ll do it you know—” she looks at him “—we’ll help people, people who are still people. We have more than enough. And we could scavenge for more. We could use more man power. And one more sane human with us means one less of whatever those things are.” He shrugged dismissively. It was true though. This was no time to be selfish. Granted that they had both fled as swiftly as they could when the truth about those things were confirmed by Levi’s own eyes. He did not feel guilty for never calling anyone. He had no one to call in the first place. Well, okay, maybe there had been _acquaintances_ , but they’d think him crazy for calling in the middle of the night. (Because, his brain told him, there was still that small chance everything would be under control, and the news of the virus would be kept from the civilians.)

Hanji had been different though. All the while, while packing and raiding shelves, she’d been dialing whoever was on her contacts list. But there were only selected few who answered their phones. And not even a third of those who picked up listened long enough before hanging up on the brunette. Levi, no matter how twisted he thought it would seem, wished they regret not heeding Hanji’s warning in their last breathe when the infected are finally biting down on their flesh and chewing through their bones.

 

They found an unused cabin when they finally managed to pull the SUV inside the woods. It was small and practically falling apart, but it was enough for the time being. It has a fire place, one room, a tiny kitchen area, and one dysfunctional shower.

The first thing they did was set up a sort of alarm system using the lengthy thin wire and empty cans. They surrounded the perimeter in a way that when an infected trips, the cans would rattle and alert them.

Of course the place was crawling with dirt and muck. Levi gladly took the opportunity to use the tools he brought. He scrubbed the floor and empty cupboards furiously, dusted the ceiling, and meticulously swept the floor.

In the morning, they discovered a small lake just a little deeper in the woods. It was a hard choice between separating or leaving all their things in the cabin and car. In the end, they opted to stay together, taking turns in bathing.

Levi reveled in the cold water he was submerged in, scrubbing days-worth of grime off his body. The last time he had a shower was when he was leaving his apartment. He had wanted to stay there for hours, but there were things to pack and plans to sort out, so he couldn’t. He had known then that a mere peaceful shower would become a luxury only a few would be granted. He had prepped himself for it, telling himself over and over that it was fine as long as he gets to live; but it did nothing to make things easier.

The following days were a semblance of peace. He could almost pretend that he was only in vacation. Keyword: could. It was hard to really get himself into thinking happy thoughts when one worries whether the infected humans would ever reach the place, or whether the next time the cans rattle against each other it wouldn’t be merely a lost boar, but instead, a swarm of infected looking for more prey after tearing the towns apart. It was hard to let loose when you had to live everyday wary, watching your back for possible intruders and sleeping with an eye open, even though he and Hanji never slept at the same time.

“Do you wonder what could have possibly happened to him?” Hanji says one time over dinner. For a moment, Levi halted his movement. He completely ignored the other. “I’m not really surprised you still refused to talk about this. But it’s been what? Three? Four years?”

Levi glares at her then.

“I’m tired. You take the first watch tonight,” he says tersely before leaving and locking himself in the lone room of the cabin.

 

  


**Author's Note:**

> Will post a separate JeanMarco part first before updating this b"d


End file.
